Michael Reddell: Reviewing Covid experiences and policies

I’ve spent the last week writing a fairly substantial review of a recent book (“Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism: How we crushed the curve but lost the race”) by a couple of Australian academic economists on Australia’s pandemic policies and experiences. For all its limitations, there isn’t anything similar in New Zealand.

What we do have is the Phase 1 report of the Covid Royal Commission which was released by the government at the end of November. You can find the full 700+ page report here. I haven’t read the full report but did read Chapter 6 on “Economic and social impacts and responses” (which starts on page 242 of the Report itself, or page 285 of the pdf). It was, frankly, a pretty disappointing read.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: A Police State for the "Next (Inevitable)" Pandemic?.....

Is Sir Ashley Bloomfeld Arguing in the NZ Medical Journal that this Nation should be Turned into a Police State for the "Next (Inevitable)" Pandemic?

In the latest edition of the NZ Medical Journal, former Ministry of Health employee, Ashley Bloomfeld, who was head of our health system during the pandemic, has written a paper called "Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response: Are We Better off Now than Pre-COVID?". The paper seems to argue that Kiwis are now better off. The authors seem to have missed something called the "cost-of-living-crisis", which has seen GDP per capita - that is, Kiwis personal incomes - decline more over the past several years than even during the Global Financial Crisis. That decline is directly attributable to policies implemented during the pandemic that never traded off economic & health outcomes. The underfunding of our health system happening now is collateral damage.

Dave Witherow: Occurrences

We seem to have more problems than usual these days. Here are just a few of them, briefly summarised.

 Climate Change - Global Warming. 

 The climate has always been changing, and there is little evidence  that human activities are more than marginally involved. We are told there is consensus, but in fact many scientists conclude that the climate panic is no more than a hoax, foisted on a gullible, misinformed public, who are thereby being closed out of cheap food and energy, normal means of travel, and affordable housing.  Their rulers, however - Bill Gates and Al Gore and Klaus Schwab and the rest of them – do not propose to share this new lifestyle.

 The whole field is complex, far beyond any thumbnail analysis, but read “Unsettled”, by Steven Koonin, or see Ian Plimer (Youtube), for alternative viewpoints on this orchestrated fraud.

Peter Dunne: The Ombudsman, The Controller and Auditor-General

The offices of the Ombudsman and the Controller and Auditor-General are two important independent statutory agencies charged with protecting aspects of the public interest against excessive or unnecessarily coercive actions by the government and its departments.

The Ombudsman’s office has the power to investigate approximately 4,000 public sector agencies across New Zealand. It does not have executive authority, but Ombudsman’s recommendations are normally taken very seriously by the government and rarely ignored.

The Controller and Auditor-General’s role is two-fold – responsibility for the annual financial audit of about 3,500 public bodies, including schools and other public bodies, and ensuring that government funding is both spent for the purposes for which it was appropriated, and in the best possible way. Like the Ombudsman, the Controller and Auditor-General is an officer of Parliament, meaning they report directly to Parliament, rather than the government of the day.

This week, both offices released separate highly critical reports on unrelated aspects of the government’s response to the pandemic.

Guy Hatchard: The Long Read: Is mRNA Vaccination Affecting Our Psychology?

The Long Read: Is mRNA vaccination affecting our psychology?If so, how and to what extent? What can we do about it?

The police and other ‘experts’ in New Zealand are complaining that digital ‘deep fake’ tools pose a threat to our justice system. A rendering of Jacinda Ardern with a modified hairstyle is used as an example.

Meanwhile, mathematician Igor Chudov, has reported that California has joined Germany, Hungary, Taiwan, UK, and Sweden in registering a large drop in the birth rate. Read his report here.

So we have the highest rate of excess all cause mortality in the world. Our hospital system is overwhelmed. Birth rates are dropping around the world. Suicide, mental illness and violent crime is rising precipitously. The global economy is floundering. But our police are worried that someone might use their computer to make a realistic cartoon of the prime minister doing something out of character. Am I missing something here?

Guy Hatchard: The Consequences of Putting Medical Professionals in Charge of Pandemic Policy

Putting Medical Professionals in Charge of Pandemic Policy Has Been a Prescription for Both a Health Disaster and an Economic Catastrophe.

This week the public narrative changed dramatically. What are the lessons for our future?

The cat is out of the bag. MSM, governments, and health authorities have begun to acknowledge that Covid vaccines don’t work and cause serious health problems.

Guy Hatchard: Is the Small Kingdom of Qatar About to Change Global Pandemic Policy?

Remarkably some scientists in Qatar working with counterparts in New York have undertaken a study asking vital questions.

They decided to study only the unvaccinated.

Objectively considered, what they discovered should change the exclusively pro-mRNA vaccination policies which currently dominate the entire world.

90% of Qataris are vaccinated, but the authors tracked several hundred thousand unvaccinated individuals and studied how well they were protected from infection, reinfection, and serious Covid illness.

The authors began by noting that:

Guy Hatchard: Open Letter to Hon Andrew Little, NZ Health Minister

Dear Minister,

You have just assumed centralised control of our health service, at a time when a survey of more than 900 doctors has just found that the health workforce is at risk of “catastrophic collapse.”

Last week it was reported that all cause mortality is at its highest level ever. You responded yesterday that “I’m satisfied that we now have the means to get on top of the issues.” What means are you planning to adopt?

For the past two and a half years of the pandemic, the government has faithfully followed the advice of a number of acknowledged health experts. The essence of this advice has been and continues to be that Pfizer mRNA Covid vaccination will be the safe and effective way to control the pandemic and ease any pressure on the health service. Accordingly, the government has used all the means at its disposal including saturation advertising, control of media content, and coercive mandates to encourage vaccination. As a result, we are among the most Covid vaccinated nations in the world.

Rodney Hide: Aotearoa

New Zealand has unraveled. The values and knowledge that underpin a free and prosperous society have been turned inside out, upside down and trashed.

It has happened over night without discussion or debate. A switch was flipped and we awoke in a different country. It is not one we recognise or know.

We are left disoriented and reeling. Brave souls rebel against particular policy but to no avail. There is no argument or debate. That was then; this is now.

The new New Zealand known as Aotearoa is totalitarian. There is one acceptable view on everything and anyone expressing alternative views is morally reprehensible and to be condemned and destroyed. We have learnt to keep our ideas and thoughts to ourselves. To speak your mind risks your career, business and social standing.